Srauta

Srauta  traditions are conservative ritualistic traditions of historical Vedic religion in Hinduism, based on the body of Śruti literature. They persist in a few places in India today although constituting a clear minority within Hinduism. Śrauta is a vrddhi derivation of Śruti, just like Smarta is the vrddhi derivation of Smrti.

Practices
The Śrauta tradition as per the Vedas lays more emphasis on practice of the Dharma rather than having a set of beliefs. This is a distinguishing feature in Dharmic religions as well as pagan religions and is unlike the case in Abrahamic religions. The daily practices of the Śrauta tradition mainly consist of Yajnas. The Yajnas are divided into two categories, namely: nitya-karma and kaamya karma. Nitya-karma refers to those Yajnas that have to be performed daily or as per occasions. Kaamya-karma refers to those Yajnas performed with a particular purpose such as getting a child (e.g. Putrakameshti).


 Yajna
The Vedas describe 400 Yajnas. The Vedas give a scheme of Pancha Mahayajnas (Five Great Yajnas, see Taittiriya Aranyaka 2.10) namely:

Devayajna- consists of offering ahutis to devas
Pitruyajna- consists of offering Libations to ancestors or pitrus
Bhutayajna- consists of offering bali or foodstuffs to all creatures
Manushyayajna- consists of feeding guests
Brahmayajna- consists of chanting Vedas, namely Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda but not the Atharvaveda.

Pantheon

The pantheon in the Śrauta tradition consist of various gods and goddesses, known as Devas. The associated theology may, however, not be typical of what is associated with the English term 'god'. Interpretations may go more towards identification with psychological or natural forces, an approach sometimes described as soft polytheism. For instance, the deva Agni has one aspect as the flame. but this flame symbolises the psychological power associated with Agni namely the power of will. Agni can be called God-will, while similarly Indra is the God-mind;Sarasvati is the Power of Inspiration, not merely of learning . But as stated above, the focus of Shrauta is not on theology but rather on ritual practice.

Since Shrauta focuses on conservative Vedic rituals, the pantheon corresponds to the Rigvedic deities more to that of mainstream (Puranic) Hinduism, among the most prominent deities being Agni and Indra, Soma, Savitar, and with goddesses such as Vac or Sarasvati (c.f. Chamakam 6):


Oral tradition

The word Śrauta is derived from the word Śruti meaning that which is heard. The Śrauta tradition of handing the Vedas down the generations consisted in solely of oral tradition from the Guru (teacher) to the Shishya (student). Vedic scholars have made use of manuscripts in order to teach the Vedas to their students at least since the Middle Ages, and of printed books since the advent of Western philology in British India, but the use of writing has always been clearly secondary to the commitment of the texts to memory.


Methods of chanting

The oral tradition of the Vedas consists of several ways of chanting the Vedas. Mainly, the students are first taught the Samhita Paatha. Here, paatha means a way of chanting. The other methods of chanting include: "vakya", "pada", "karma", "jata", "mala", "sikha", "rekha", "dhvaja","danda", "ratha", "ghana".

Some Vedic scholars are called "ghanapaathins". It means they have learnt the chanting of the scripture up to the advanced stage called "ghana". "Paathin" means one who has learnt the "paatha". Ghanapaathins chant the ghana by intoning a few words of a mantra in different ways, back and forth. The sonority natural to Vedic chanting is enhanced in ghana. Similarly, in the other methods of chanting like karma, jata, sikha, mala, and so on the intonation is nothing less than stately. The chief purpose of such methods is to ensure that even not even a syllable of a mantra is altered to the slightest extent. The words are braided together, so to speak, and recited back and forth.


Present situation of Śrauta tradition
Today the Śrauta tradition most prominent in Southern India, with communities in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, but also in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states; the best known of these groups are the Nambudiri of Kerala, whose traditions were notably documented by Frits Staal. The Smarta tradition of Hinduism is more prevalent in the country. The Smarta and Shrauta traditions are not mutually exclusive; some Smartas continue to practise the Vedic rituals.

The Aupasana is performed in many houses. However the Śrauta tradition emphasises also on Agnihotra (whose performer is called Agnihotri).